It is not uncommon for automobiles to become bogged down or stuck on slippery or miring driving surfaces. For example, many autos become stuck in snow storms or on wet roads following heavy rains or floods. In addition to the inconvenience of being unable to complete one's journey, the stranding of vehicles in such fashion can impose considerable danger for the vehicle's occupants. For example, the extreme cold associated with blizzards and other snow storms, and the rising water levels associated with floods and heavy rains, can threaten life, safety, and health. In addition, the conditions that caused one automobile to become stuck can also detract from the control available to the drivers of other vehicles, so that merely remaining in or near an immobilized vehicle can involve an extreme danger of being struck by additional autos. A reasonable approach to extracting the vehicle and alleviating associated dangers and inconvenience is to improve the traction of the stranded vehicle through the installation of auxiliary traction devices on the tires or wheels of the automobile as it sits in place, so that the vehicle can be driven off to resume its journey.
Several means for the temporary enhancement of automobile tire traction are known. For example, tire chains and cables such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,391,315 to Jacobson and 4,825,923 to Blankenship et al. are well known. Devices of the type shown in those references suffer several disadvantages, however. For example, in addition to being cumbersome, difficult, and sometimes even dangerous to install, they also typically require, because they entirely encase the circumferential traction or bearing surface of the tire to which they are attached, that the vehicle be moved so that installation may be completed. Moreover, the installation process usually requires the installer to lie and/or kneel down on the ground--which, in the conditions in which such devices are typically installed, results in the installer besoiling him or herself, or getting him or herself wet, and therefore most usually cold, with associated risks to health, safety, and comfort. The relatively complex structure of such devices also drives production costs for the devices up, and increases the possibilities of failure when the devices are in use.
As a partial solution to the problems associated with the Jacobson, Blankenship, and similar devices, single-band wrap-around devices such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,454,412 to Bowers; 4,334,569 to Jacob et al.; 4,074,741 to Moore et al.; 2,085,204 to Sullivan; 2,058,799 to Jacks; and 1,854,616 to Lowe have been developed. While these devices represent some improvements, in that they are simpler and somewhat less prone to failure, potentially less expensive to produce, and do not necessarily require the vehicle to be moved for installation to be completed, they can still require the installer to lie or kneel down upon the cold, wet, or otherwise dirty or unpleasant ground--in order, for example, to fish the free end of the "wrap-around" devices through an aperture in the wheel hub to complete the connection. Moreover, in most cases the devices disclosed offer inadequate traction for the situations in which they might be called upon to be used; and they are generally impractical because the materials used and the connections provided are of inadequate strength for medium or heavy-duty use. For example, the plastic strap disclosed in Bowers U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,412 is of insufficient strength to allow a vehicle to remove itself from a slippery or muddy spot once the device has been installed. And the closure or attachment devices disclosed in the remaining cited references are insufficiently strong to retain the devices in place on the tires under the loads induced by extracting an automobile from a hole or a patch of ice or snow. Moreover, many of the devices disclosed are of materials and designs which are prone to stretching or other elongation, and fatal or detrimental to improved traction.
Thus there exists a need for an emergency vehicle traction device for providing improved traction to automobiles requiring temporary traction improvement in a wide variety of situations. In particular, there is a need for a device adapted for providing temporary, improved traction to an automobile stuck in mud, snow, ice, or other hazard, which is easy, quick, and convenient to install, and which is economical to produce and maintain. There is also a need for such a device which may be installed with no tools, or with common tools, and which will not cause damage to the wheel or vehicle to which it is attached.